Seven recent highlights are presented from atomic force microscopy (AFM) of
DNA in this lab. The first two involve advances in the observation of enzy
matic reactions in near-physiological solutions. E. coli RNA polymerase was
observed to process along its DNA template in a series of time-lapse image
s [S. Kasas, et al., Biochemistry 36, 461 (1997)], and a new small-cantilev
er atomic force microscope (AFM) imaged DNA degradation by DNase I at rates
as fast as two seconds per image. The next five highlights involve structu
ral observations of DNA and DNA-protein complexes, including DNA condensed
for gene delivery, sequence-dependent DNA condensation, an AFM assay for RN
A polymerase, and AFM evidence for a yeast kinetochore complex that may be
involved in holding together sister chromatids during cell division.